


A Storybrooke Stables Thanksgiving

by Noname_Kat



Series: Tales from Storybrooke Stables [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Swan-Mills Family, it's a small bit of fluff, oblivious idiots in love, or Nolan-Mills in this case...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 21:44:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16710598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noname_Kat/pseuds/Noname_Kat
Summary: A little missing moment in time from Storybrooke Stables to help celebrate the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!





	A Storybrooke Stables Thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I wanted to send out a little thank you to everyone that has read Storybrooke Stables to celebrate Thanksgiving! If you haven't read the story yet, you'll be a bit lost reading this little piece of fluff I'm afraid. I think this is something I might do more of to help fill in some of the time gaps of the story. If people are interested?
> 
> Again a big thank you to you all and I hope you're having an amazing day! (even if you don't celebrate)
> 
> Enjoy!

Emma watched Regina run around the kitchen. She couldn’t help but be in awe of the woman’s abilities in a kitchen. She moved about the kitchen like it was her stage, and this was her time to shine.

“Is everything okay?” Regina’s voice snapped Emma out of her thoughts. She blushed as she realized the brunette had caught her staring.

“Yeah…sorry… I was just thinking.”

“About?” Regina kept her work going as she asked.

“Honestly?” Emma’s stomach did a little flip.

“Always, Miss Swan.” Regina raised a curious eyebrow at the blonde.

“I was just thinking about how amazing you are.” She smiled brightly at Regina.

“Emma…” Regina turned away from her, but not before she saw a blush color her cheeks.

“No seriously. You do such an amazing job keeping this household together.” It’d been two years since they had lost Daniel. Time just kept moving, and they just kept living. “Henry and I would be lost without you.” It was her turn to blush.

“I… Thank you. It’s a team effort though, dear. I couldn’t do it without you both either.” They shared a silent moment where they just smiled shyly at one another. Emma felt bold for a second and took a tentative step forward... Her heart was racing, but before she could do anything about how she was feeling, a small body crashed into her side.

“Ma!” She smiled down at her son and ruffled his hair. She looked back at Regina, but she had turned around to work on something on the counter.

“Hey, kid. Did you have fun with…”

“Wine, now!” Emma couldn't help but break out laughing, as an exhausted Cora Mills stumbled into the kitchen.

Regina started to grab the wine bottle, but Emma stopped her. “I’ve got it. You keep on doing your magic with the food. Would you like a glass as well?” Regina smiled and gave her a small nod. “So, did the little man wear you out, Cora?”

“He’s a very rambunctious 7-year-old.” The elder Mills woman took a big gulp of her wine and motioned for Emma to top off the glass. “We had a good night though, didn’t we Henry?”

They all turned to look at Henry who wasn’t listening. He was in progress of dragging a chair across the kitchen. He stopped when he got beside Regina and jumped up to stand on the seat. He wrapped his arms around the brunette and placed a big wet sloppy kiss on her cheek. Everyone just smiled with tears in their eyes at the sweet action.

“What was that for, dear?” Regina smoothed down his hair and kissed him on his forehead in return.

“Just cause I love you, Na! Can I help?!” Emma felt a tear escape and slide down her cheek. She turned around quickly to wipe it away. Cora was smiling at her warmly when she turned back around.

“Of course you can, dear. Here, you can work on peeling this potato for me.” Emma watched as Regina explained how to use the peeler. It surprised her that Regina was okay with him having the sharp object in his hands. As she watched though, she realized she gave him a very dull peeler so that he had something to occupy his hands. Mainly they just talked and laughed as she finished preparing dinner.

“When are your parents getting here, dear?” Cora took another sip of her wine.

“They should be here at any…” Right on cue, the Nolans came clamoring into the kitchen. “...minute. Hey, guys!” She rushed over to them and helped them clear their arms of the bags they were carrying.

“Hi, sweetheart!” David wrapped Emma up in a tight hug.

“Hey, dad. What’s all this?” She looked down at all the bags they had brought in.

“ They’re donations we’ve been collecting for food shelter. I asked them to bring them by so I can drop them off tomorrow.” Regina came up and gave both of the Nolans a hug.

“Isn’t tomorrow too late for Thanksgiving?” Henry looked a bit perplexed.

“Yes, but people still need to eat after the holiday, kid.” That seemed to appease his curiosity, so he started back in on trying to peel his one potato. Emma giggled seeing Regina had already finished making everything that required them.

“Okay, all that’s left in here is cleanup. Why don’t you all go to the front room and pick out some games to play?” At hearing the word game, Henry gasped and dropped his potato. He jumped down off the chair and ran off into the front room. Everyone laughed and followed him out. Except for Emma, she stayed back and wordlessly helped Regina cleanup.

 

* * *

 

As dinner cooked, they all played games. Somehow Henry won them all. Emma was pretty sure everyone was helping him win, but she couldn’t prove it. At one point the Colters called in, and everyone talked to them over FaceTime. Henry told them all about his recent fishing trip with David, where he had caught a massive rainbow trout.

Once settled at the dinner table, Mary Margaret made everyone say what they were thankful for. Cora didn’t hesitate and said wine as she held her glass up high. Mary Margaret said friends and family, surprising no one. Henry did surprise everyone when he said he was thankful for the stray cats that wandered around the stables… Emma still wasn’t sure what that was about. David was grateful for his staff who were like family to him; he’d soon dismiss himself to make an appearance at the stables dining hall to see how everyone was enjoying the holiday. Emma and Regina both went the friends and family route as well, but they both shared a little extra thank you for each other. Emma once again could feel her face turning red at the woman’s kind words. The blonde swore she saw Cora and Mary Margaret share an odd smirk across the table when they were done.

Cora and Mary Margaret handled post-dinner clean up, much to their daughter's dismay. They insisted and sent the girls out of the room with a fresh bottle of wine.

“Thanks again for cooking such an amazing dinner, Regina. Next year let me help a bit more okay?” She smiled at the brunette and took a sip from her glass.

“Maybe if you practice a bit more over the next year, dear…” Regina winked at her and Emma choked on her wine.

“Are you okay?” Regina patted her back, and it just made Emma cough more.

“I’m fine.” She took a couple of deep breaths. “Just swallowed wrong is all.”

They settled back on the couch. Henry was sprawled out on the floor in front of them watching a movie. He could barely keep his eyes open. He was fighting the need to sleep the best he could…

“Henry… I think it’s time for bed, dear.” Regina smiled down at him.

“I’m not sleepy though!”

“Henry...listen to your… Na.” Emma still had a hard time finding a proper term to use for Regina when it came to Henry. She supposed Na was just going to be it forever.

“I’m sorry…” He couldn’t hold back a giant yawn, and Emma laughed.

“Okay, kid. I’ll help you get settled.” She walked over to him and lifted him up. “Dang, kid. You’re getting too big for this…” She smiled at Regina and whispered into Henry’s ear.

“Night, Na! I love you, thanks for cooking us all dinner!” Regina got up from the couch.

“Thank you, my little prince. Good night, and sweet dreams.” For some reason at that moment, Emma decided to lean down to kiss Henry’s head just as Regina did. Their foreheads met as their lips made contact with either side of Henry’s head. Neither woman made a move to end the connection. It was, nice.

“All done!” They pulled apart as Cora and Snow came in from the kitchen. Both women stopped in their tracks and smiled brightly at the pair.

“I was...uhh...just taking Henry to bed, say good night, kid!”

“Goodnight, kid!” Henry giggled at his joke, and Emma rolled her eyes. Maybe he was spending too much time with her dad.

When she came back down after tucking Henry in, she found Regina all by herself. The brunette was sitting on the couch with her feet tucked underneath her. She had her wine glass in one hand and was flipping through a photo album in her lap with the other.

“Did mom and Cora leave already?” She grabbed her wine glass and joined Regina on the couch.

“Yeah, they wanted to make an appearance at the dining hall and thank the staff.” Emma nodded and sipped on her wine. She wondered if she should do the same…a small laugh broke her away from that thought though.

“Look how small Henry was here.” It was Henry’s first Thanksgiving. He had a little pilgrim hat on his head that Mary Margaret had made.

“All I remember about that is the lecture you gave mom about how offensive the hat was…” Emma also remembered as soon as Regina saw it on his head she just melted and gave up the fight.

“It really was awful...but he's so cute...” She turned the page, and there was a giant photo of Daniel holding Henry. Henry was being fussy, and Daniel was trying to make the same grumpy face. They both smiled down at the picture fondly. Regina reached out and traced Daniel ‘s face with her finger.

“He was something special.”

“That he was…” Emma reached out and squeezed Regina’s hand.

Regina turned the page again, and they both broke out laughing at a picture of Emma holding Daniel in a choke-hold. Regina shook her head with a smile. Closing the photo album, the brunette held up her wine glass. Emma followed her lead and held hers up as well. They clinked them together and smiled.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Emma.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, Regina.”


End file.
